NEW YORK, USA (CMC) – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced new security measures for the annual Caribbean J’Ouvert celebrations that will take place in Brooklyn on September 4.

The mayor, flanked by officials from New York Police Department (NYPD), the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, J’Ouvert City International, the organisers of the Caribbean J’Ouvert, said the activity is “one of the most vibrant and passionate celebrations of culture in our great city.

“It is incumbent upon all of us to make this year’s festivities peaceful and enjoyable for everyone,” said de Blasio, whose wife, Chirlane McCray, traces her roots to Barbados and St Lucia.

“I commend the parade organisers, New York Police Department and my colleagues in government for coalescing to come up with a sound plan to make this year’s J’Ouvert the safest ever,” the mayor added.

Noting that J’Ouvert is a celebration of Caribbean culture, Commissioner James P O’Neill said the NYPD is committed to making it safe for all.

“That’s why, in addition to providing these enhanced security measures and additional public safety resources, we’ve been strengthening our partnerships with the community, elected officials, other city agencies, and other stakeholders,” he said.

“Each of us has the ability to make J’Ouvert safer and more enjoyable, and together we’re so much stronger.”

In recent years the J’Ouvert parade, which precedes the massive West Indian American Day Carnival Parade, has started at dawn as a result of a “joint, strategic judgement” in an effort to reduce the potential for violence.

New York City Council Member Jumaane Williams, the son of Grenadian immigrants, who represents parts of the area where the parade will be held, said he and others “have always welcomed efforts made to increase safety around J’Ouvert and to reduce gun violence and loss of life.

“I thank the Mayor and Commissioner O’Neill for engaging, while respecting the culture and history of the Caribbean community and further understanding that J’Ouvert is not simply a parade, but a celebratory morning with people celebrating well beyond the parade boundaries similar to how many celebrate Memorial Day and July 4th,” said the representative for the predominantly Caribbean 45th Council District in Brooklyn.

“We owe all victims and their families our truest efforts, and all New Yorkers a real plan of action,” he said.

Williams’ City Council colleague, Haitian Dr Mathieu Eugene, said the purpose of J’Ouvert “is to create a welcoming environment to celebrate Caribbean culture.

“If moving the start time of the festival to 6:00 am is needed to increase the safety of the community, then that is the correct action to take,” said Eugene, the first Haitian to be elected to New York City Council, representative for the also largely Caribbean 40th Council District in Brooklyn.

In recent years, reports indicate that the festive atmosphere encompassing J’Ouvert has attracted people looking to settle disputes under the cover of darkness and in the thickness of the crowds.

Four people were shot during the festival last year.